Educating Our Children About Social Media
There are all sorts of social media tools that are made especially for our younger population. It is a really excellent idea to get our children used to using social media from early on.
There are numerous apps (applications) available that are specifically suited to children of all different ages. If children begin to be exposed to social media at the same time that they are learning other things, the information will be absorbed easily and by the time they are older, they will be very knowledgeable and extremely adept.
Learning by imitation
Children take in a great deal of information around the all of the time. They watch you using all sorts of technology and they naturally try to imitate what you do. If social media is a regular part of your daily practice, it will become a regular day of theirs. If your small children are interactive on social media now, just think about their potential in the future. There are many benefits to this. One of the most important benefits is the idea that your children will most likely be more knowledgeable about a lot of things before they actually start school.
How young is too young?
You might be wondering what age is too young for a child to be exposed to social media and other technologies. As a parent, you want to give your child (or children) as much exposure and as many advantages as you can and this approach totally lends itself to that. One of the extremely positive results that social media will have on your children is that it provides them with new ways to interact and communicate. Having an expanded repository of communication skills will give your children the opportunity to be creative when it comes to dealing with their relationships with other people. If one form of communication doesn’t work for someone, they may find it difficult to get their point across if there are no alternative communication methods from which to choose. If, on the other hand, other means of communication are available to them, one way or another, they will succeed at getting their point across and strengthening their relationships.
On certain basic levels, children as young as 2 or 3 years old can learn to communicate through social media. Obviously, the level of sophistication involved will be much lower earlier on; however, children are like sponges when it comes to learning and you will be surprised at how quickly they absorb information. There are all sorts of tools that are available that help children to communicate and interact. As we speak, many others are being developed as well.
Social media and social interactions
One of the more popular concepts is the idea that Facebook can be used more sensibly by children as well as by adults. What I mean by sensibly is that children don’t have to use it just to speak with their friends. They can use Facebook, Twitter, and many other popular social media channels for learning and growing purposes. Of course, you need to have confidence and a feeling of security in the idea that your child will use social media the way that you want him or her to use it. Of course, you must be cognizant of the messages that your child (or children) are sending and make certain that they understand the potential perception of their messages online.
Allowing your children to grow with their social media experience
As social networking develops, it is important that your children develop with it. As the parent, it is very important that you monitor the social media channels for your children and it is an excellent idea for you to constantly research what is available and whether it will be beneficial for your children. Many social media site nowadays have educational elements incorporated so that whoever is using that site will have an opportunity to learn as they go.
Conclusion
It is apparent that social media is rapidly becoming more and more important for the generations that follows yours. With that in mind, it is extraordinarily important to make sure that the exposure that your children get to social media uses the tools that are available to their fullest potential. Social media is an incredible tool with a huge amount of potential. It is important to use it to help our children learn and grow in every way possible. It is high time that the negative reputation that social media may have when it comes to children engaging be turned around and a more positive (and deserved) spin be associated with children learning from social media.
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Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Marketing Communication
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
>>If your small children are interactive on social media now, just think about their potential in the future. There are many benefits to this. One of the most important benefits is the idea that your children will most likely be more knowledgeable about a lot of things before they actually start school<<
Yes they will if by knowledge you mean how to watch a cat playing a piano on Youtube or tagging friends on FB. Maybe some of them will learn how to get and follow a news feed on Twitter (not). None of which will help them in school.
I find this whole line of thinking unconscionable really.
Posted by Victoria
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Group: Books and Writers
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
I totally disagree. As a parent of a now 23 year old who grew up with Facebook and the social media explosion, parents should be cautious in their approach of social media where children are concerned. The amount of cyber bullying, suicides and predators has increased over the years to where my daughter limits her online activities.
It is also instills anti-social behavior in kids who can't cope with face to face contact or learning social graces in personal situations and how to handle interactions. Even cell phone usage by teens and texting while driving has caused an increase in fatal or crippling accidents. Most states have been forced to enact laws to monitor teen driving with graduated licenses and prohibiting texting while driving.
No, social media should be given in small does to children until there are adults (18) and can made rational decisions. Don't teach them to use something without knowing or having the capability to act responsible with the devices.
Posted by Shawn
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Group: Professional Writers
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
With pre-teens in my house, I started reading Queen Bees Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. I downloaded it onto my Nook Color from B&N. Chaper 1: Technology, the Media, and Girl World gives much needed advice on this subject. I wish I had this when my oldest, now 17, was discovering the internet, MySpace, and Facebook. It would have made my life much easier!
Posted by Connie
I am all about social media and I think that it is a FABULOUS tool. I agree that kids need lots of instruction and guidance from their parents as they are wading the social media waters. However, I don't know that I would expose a 2-3 year old to social media. In my humble opinion, that sounds too young. While there MAY be benefits at that age, I think that the same benefits can be obtained through other means. I'm not a fan of encouraging more screen time for the little ones. Thanks for a thought-provoking post!
I would really like to see the benefits of social media for children. They are, after all, children, not adults with a capacity of discerning the good from the bad. This issue of social media knowledge for kids presents many questions to which there are no easy answers.
The advance of technology in this field is simply too great to be absorved even for adults, let alone children.
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Group: Non-Fiction Writers
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
@Carolyn, I agree with what you say about getting children up and running with social media as soon as possible. Perhaps some of the hesitation to do this comes from the parents not being so tech savvy themselves. I believe if we don't allow our children to reach out (with parental supervision) on the social media sites and internet in general we are really holding them back.
Posted by Alison
I am very tech savvy. Technology has nothing to do with the concept of social media.
It's like the difference between a 10 year old watching her parents drive a car and then being given the keys and told to have at it. She may know how to get it started and drive down the street but when something unknown pops up there's a potential for disaster.
The other piece is the theory children would only be online under parental supervision. That is laughable.
I do realize the business model with such a large target market must seem irresistable. Please – resist.
@Alison: I strongly disagree with the "parents not being so tech savvy" comment. When debating whether or when to let my teen-aged daughter have a Facebook account, I polled the software developers at work, and they are extremely leery of children having Facebook accounts. They've seen the damage it can do, and all the dangers. On the other hand, I do agree that at some point, social media has to be accepted as a fact of life, and parental supervision is essential. Just remember that it's yet another time sink for the parents.
I am encouraged to see so many other comments from people who are cautious about the benefits of social media, and so aware of the pitfalls. In my circle of colleagues and friends, we are concerned about the social skills that children are missing by becoming too attached to social media. They are missing telephone etiquette, the ability to speak to another person or group of people, and the ability to interact in person. Unfortunately, all we have so far is anecdotal evidence about anti-social behaviour and poor communication skills (written and spoken). I would like to see some studies done on this. Can Ms. Cohn provide any evidence that children get a head start on their education by using social media? Is there any proof of stronger, better relationships because of social media? And with our current user interface, how much social media can a child use before they can type? If you are suggesting a voice recognition program like Dragon Naturally Speaking, do you really want your 3-year-old spouting off to the world? Does anyone besides me have privacy concerns?
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Group: Writers World
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
Yes, I explain lots of the things to my daughter. She is 7yrs old put she ask lots of questions. Bullying, is one of the biggest things. She had problems with it in school. I don't think we really have got the importance about it to our children. Sometimes there is no punishment when it happens to our children in schools. I go to the school in sit in my daughter's class. I know that's hard for parents that work outside of home.
Posted by April
I think it is extremely important to educate children on social media. It is their present and future. Social media started to take off while I was in college, and I am glad that my professors integrated social media learning into the curriculum, otherwise I wouldn't understand the benefits and strategies and usability of social media platforms.
Learning about social media effectively prepared me for the real world, and new marketing trends that have taken the place of traditional marketing.
I believe that Facebook has an age limit for children. What do we teach our young ones if we break a rule like the one Facebook has?Not all rules are laws, but they are very important. The rule that Facebook has is one that allows for the minimum age a child will have the maturity needed to use their service carefully.
Do kids need to experiment with these things before they have the maturity? I don't think so. There are plenty of electronic toys to prepare them for school without having them come up against older kids that enjoy scaring younger ones or teaching them foul language. And I will not even mention child molesters, oops, I just did.
We must protect our kids for as long as we can and teach them social skills not social media. We need to teach them how to take care of themselves in all environments as they get old enough to go to them or use them. No 2 or 3 year year old could understand any of this and I wouldn't want them to.
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Group: Writers World
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
It's extremely important that both parents and teachers get training in the safe use of digital tools, lest children are left to fend for themselves.
Posted by Camille
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Group: Online Marketing Network
Discussion: Educating Our Children About Social Media
I am fascinated by this idea of how young is too young. I have read a bunch of studies that say television is bad for child development because it's two dimensional. Not sure if social media is the same thing given that it's two dimensional, as it does have that element of interactivity.
Posted by Kane